Atheist Paul Rinzer states, “To be an atheist, one does not have to say there are no gods, only that no one has provided good reasons to believe there is a god. Whoever claims there is a god has the burden to prove a god exists.” (“Meet your friendly neighborhood atheists,” Oct. 19).
The answer, providing “good reasons” that God exists, is the witness of millions of people, through eons of time, with religions differentiated in doctrines and worship. Turning the question back to Rinzer, if he denies this fact (this evidence, this burden of proof) he should answer the question: How does he, an atheist, prove God doesn’t exist?
This article appears in Nov 10-17, 2011.
How exactly would one prove something doesnt exist? It’s not as if things that don’t exist leave behind evidence that they indeed don’t exist.
go prove to me that 45-foot space lizards don’t exist since you don’t believe in them.
Atheists do, indeed, have a burden for their claim “God doesn’t exist.” That’s how logic works – a person can only rationally deny a claim if they can defend the negation of that claim.
For example, if someone claims to have a brother its only possible to rationally argue they’re wrong or lying if you can defend that they do not, in fact, have a brother.
And the usual complaint of “how do you expect me to prove something doesn’t exist?” I don’t. You can’t, which is why you shouldn’t choose a position which requires you to do something you can’t do.
You chose the position of Atheism, nobody forced you to.